By Ruth Ferguson, NDG Editor
Legendary gospel artist Fred Hammond, now a DFW resident, recently spoke with the North Dallas Gazette by phone about his career and involvement with Verizon’s How Sweet the Sound. The regional concerts are kicking off tomorrow in Grand Prairie.
When asked about his career, which spans three decades Hammond chuckled, “It does not really feel like 30 plus years. It is a fun career and I have enjoyed my job. I love staying current with the times.” For example, Hammond pointed out the importance of not trying to drag what worked in 1980 to 2012. “You have to pay attention to what is going on in the music world,” he added.
Hammond became involved in the How Sweet the Sound efforts when, “They called me a couple of years ago and asked would I be a judge. I loved it and so here I am again.”
What advice does he offer to the choirs participating?
“First, be as excellent as you can, come prepared as possible, from the musicians to the person on the last row.” Hammond also encouraged choirs to keep in mind it is not always about the dancing, that is great but if the music is not right it diminishes their chances of winning.
He cautioned contestants, “The judging will be harder this year, and not so nicey-nicey.” While entertainment is a part of what the audience looks forward to, they are also looking forward to the moments of worship he indicated.
Hammond said the audience loves a great dance and step, “but they want to feel an anointed moment.”
St. Mark Sanctuary is 75-member choir from Little Rock, which sings every Sunday at two services. Darius Nelson the director said the members range in age from 18 – 65 years old and come from all walks of life.
This is not his first time participating in a How Sweet the Sound competition; he also participated with a church from Memphis in 2010. Nelson said he was impressed two years ago with, “how well organized everything is, it is a first class production.”
When asked to describe his choir Nelson said, they will come with a high level of energy and enthusiasm. They are singing The Worship Medley by Joe Pace and according to Nelson, “It represents who we are and what we do.”
Each choir selected was asked to submit four songs from a list of 50 approved songs from which to choose. By August 1 they were given their assigned song, providing each choir ample time to prepare.
Selah is a choir from Denton’s Latter House Glory Tabernacle where Pastor Elton Monday is the minister. Director Titus Glenn submitted his application for the contest after he decided to take “a step of faith and enter.” The choir has 70 members and as a recording artist Glenn compared the preparation to working on an album.
“Singing to God is the focus, but you work on cleaning up and polishing your sound.” They are singing Awesome God by Youthful Praise.
Glenn has served as the choir director for about 18 months, but minister of music for nearly 5 years. “Our choir is a very youthful, with the average age of the members being 25 years old with many still in college.”
In closing, Glenn shared, “Selah is a unique choir, we are young age wise, but we do have a heart to live and sing for Jesus Christ. Just don’t look at our outer appearance, but actually hear what we are singing.”
Carnel Davis, Jr. is the director of Carnel Davis & Incorporated to Praise, which is a community choir from Houston, Texas. This is the first year the competition has included community choirs. A community choir is one, which is not affiliated with a specific church and often includes members from different denominations and backgrounds. According to Davis, community choirs were real popular in the 1970s and 80s but faded for several years.
Carnel Davis & Incorporated to Praise features 35 members and while it is commonplace to require community choir members to audience, Davis indicated his choir does not host auditions. The choir is filled by, “word of mouth with members who come with a willingness to train and sing,” he added. Sometimes they sing every week, sometimes multiple times in a week and sometimes it is merely once a month.
Davis is looking forward to the event and said, “We are just excited for the opportunity to come and share the word of God with those who would come and listen. We hope that God is pleased most of all and that the audience members are blessed.”
The gospel artists participating include Donald Lawrence and Yolanda Adams are co-hosts, CeCe Winans and Bishop Hezekiah X. Walker are among the judges. For more information visit http://www2.howsweetthesound.com.
